1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an accessory for protection against falls adapted more particularly to the practice of sports, and more specifically to roller skating, in-line roller skating, or skateboarding.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
In skating, in particular, it is important to have great freedom of movement to be able to move efficiently, perform figures or jumps, or execute braking or accelerating movements. The risk involved in practicing the sport comes from the fact that if the skater loses his balance, he can fall on hard and non-cushioned surfaces that can cause serious injuries.
That is the reason why protective accessories have been designed, which aim at limiting the risks of injuries, especially in the most vulnerable areas, i.e., the head, hands, knees, and elbows.
Criticism often targeting these protective accessories relates either to their inadequate protection, due to their generally approximate design, or their bulkiness that is too substantial which has the effect of limiting limb mobility, generating too much heat, and affecting the fluidity of movements, as well as the artistic or aesthetic appearance during skating.
In terms of protection, the proposed systems do not adequately take into account that the parts to be protected in the same area, generally projecting parts, can be multiple and oriented in planes that are distinct from one another. Thus, most often, either protection is efficient only in a particular plane but inefficient or inadequate in another plane, or protection is efficient in all of the planes but at the cost of bulkiness that is too substantial.
The proposed systems are also generally complicated and time-consuming to fit, which renders them unattractive for use in all occasions, especially for uses over a short period of time or without apparent difficulties. However, it is often under these circumstances that accidents occur.
Therefore, there is a need to improve the current systems to better adapt these systems to the morphology of the body parts to be protected, reducing bulkiness to facilitate mobility, and facilitating the positioning of these systems so as to render their use unavoidable.
With respect to protecting the elbows, in particular, there are two kinds of elbow pads, those that are slipped on and those that are attached. Those that are slipped on are particularly advantageous because they become as one with the elbow. However, because the fastening is not positive, there is a risk of losing them during the practice of the sport. With respect to those that are attached, they are often equipped with a buckle tightening system. However, if their fastening is more efficient, they are not as comfortable as those that are slipped on.
The aforementioned fastening systems are generally constituted of straps that are fixed in the area of the bend of the elbow, or from two straps that intersect at the same bend of the elbow.
The result is a discomfort for the user and, in addition, since this part is active, it causes these straps to loosen very quickly.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned various disadvantages and, to this end, the invention relates to an accessory for protection against falls during the practice of a sport, which is adapted to cover two projecting parts of a limb extending from a bending zone in angularly distinct planes, especially elbow, knees, and including:
a flexible element surrounding at least partially each of the two parts of the limb;
a protective element formed of a rigid or semi-rigid material associated locally with the flexible element;
means for connecting the protective element on the flexible element;
a least one tightening element of the assembly thus formed, adapted to maintain it in place around said limb;
wherein the tightening element is a strap surrounding one of the two parts of the limb, outside the bending zone of the latter, by being superimposed on the flexible element, whether or not via the protective element.
According to the invention, it is to be readily understood that the strap, by being independent of the bend of the limb in surrounding one of the parts of the limb that is rigid, enables a positive fastening of the protective accessory, in particular for protecting an elbow.
The present invention also relates to the characteristics that will become apparent from the description that follows, and which must be considered separately or according to all their possible technical combinations.